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U.S. Deploys Combat Jets to Israel for Potential Wartime Mission in Iran
(Wall Street Journal) Michael R. Gordon - The deployment of F-22 Raptors to Israel this week marks the first time the U.S. has deployed combat aircraft to the country for a potential wartime mission against Iran. For decades prior to the Abraham Accords, U.S. forces in the Middle East had sought to avoid the impression that they were closely integrated with the Israeli military. "Operating aircraft from Israeli bases is a first," said Dennis Ross, a former senior U.S. official. The F-22 deployment is the product of "the growing cooperation between the United States and Israel, and the refusal of so many countries to allow the U.S. to use their bases," said Elliott Abrams, another former senior U.S. official. "I have to wonder if, over time, Americans will wonder why we have bases in countries that don't cooperate when we ask." Israel's antimissile defenses will help protect the F-22s based in the country. "If I was going to put a very high value asset somewhere, I totally would want to go for a country that has pretty robust air and missile defense," said Douglas Birkey, executive director for the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.